The Essel-Zee Group’s Subhash Chandra Foundation on Tuesday told the Hyderabad High Court that it wanted to withdraw its proposal to take over the scam-hit AgriGold Group of companies, and filed an affidavit seeking permission to reclaim Rs 10 crore that it had deposited for the process.
This comes days after the Andhra Pradesh government informed the Hyderabad High Court that it was rejecting the foundation's proposal.
The foundation had proposed to take over the tainted company by paying Rs 4,000 crore and said that it would do so in a phased manner.
“If this proposal is accepted as it is or with modifications, if any, it will result in a situation where the state will reach a point of no return and will be dependent on the intervener having entered into an understanding and lapse, if any, will further complicate the issues and situation with the interest of the depositors taking a back seat,” the state government was quoted as saying.
In its response, the foundation said that it was withdrawing the proposal as it had been rejected by the state government. The company also added that the management of AgriGold had claimed that it had properties worth Rs 25,000 crore, while the actual value as per their evaluation, was less than Rs 2,000 crore.
The scam
Around 3.2 million people in many states, including Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, were duped by the AgriGold scam, which came to light in 2014.
AgriGold owes Rs 6,380 crore to over 32 lakh depositors in 9 states, with Andhra Pradesh leading the list with 19 lakh depositors.
The company lured several lakh customers on the promise that their investment would come back to them with higher returns. Several 'agents' were also sent out to convince people to invest in the group of companies.
The company allegedly took this money and invested heavily in real estate, before branching out to other areas as well, and finally duping the customers. Over 100 people have committed suicide after the scam came to light.